Drummer
Winard Harper leads a fine hard bop quintet on
Trap Dancer, which consists of five standards and a variety of obscure originals, including one song apiece from
Gary Bartz and
Jimmy Heath. Trumpeter
Patrick Rickman, tenor saxophonist
J.D. Allen, and pianist
George Cables take consistently worthwhile solos, and although there are a couple brief percussion pieces ("Oamara" and "Allahu Akbra"),
Harper does not feature himself all that much except in support of the lead voices. Those two numbers have producer
Cecil Brooks III added on drums and
Harper,
Rickman, and
Allen all switching to percussion. Otherwise the music is primarily comprised of concise versions of modern hard bop standards and newer pieces in a similar style. An excellent session. ~ Scott Yanow